Please help for these questions a) Which of the changes being considered by Nicholas Cheng contradict the Lean Manufacturing philosophy? Why? Be prepared to explain in detail. b) Make recommendations for Lean Manufacturing improvements in such areas as scheduling, layout, Kanban, task groupings, and inventory. c) Create a future, value-added operation for Chengs current system. d) Outline a plan for the introduction of Lean manufacturing at Cheng.

Cheng Products Company is a supplier of gizmos for a large computer manufacturer located a few kilometres away. The a company produces three different models of gizmos in production ranging from 100 to 300 units. Case Exhibit 1 Gizmo Production Flow Receiving Machining Dept. Machine No. 1 Mill Machine No. Lathe Skid V 3 Table Machine No. 4 Table Tool crib Drill Drill Skid 2 Machine No. 3 Assembly Dept. Finishing Dept. Skid Skid 2 Oven From To receiving assembly Assembly bench Skid 20 Skid 90 Packing bench 12 Skid Subassembly area for purchased parts going into final assembly 5 u 12 Paint booth Skid Skid Skid Shipping Offices Operator Part-time worker Scale: 1 cm 0.5 m Inventory The production flow of Models X and Y is shown in Case Exhibit 1. Model Z requires milling as its first step, but otherwise follows the same flow pattern as X and Y. Skids can hold up to 20 gizmos at a time. Approximate processing times per unit by operation number and equipment setup times are shown in the following table: Operation Number and Name Operation Times (minutes) Setup Times (minutes) A NA 60 30 5 5 Milling for Z 1 Lathe 2 Mod. 14 drill 3 Mod. 14 drill 4 Assembly step 1 Assembly step 2 Assembly step 3 5 Inspection 6 Paint 7 Oven 8 Packing 20 50 15 40 50 45 50 30 30 50 5 20 The demand for gizmos from the computer company ranges between 125 and 175 per month, equally divided among X, Y and Z. Subassembly builds up inventory early in the month to make certain that a better buffer stock is always available. Raw materials and purchased parts for subassemblies each constitutes 40% of the manufacturing cost of a gizmo. Both categories of parts are multiple sourced from about 80 vendors and are delivered at random times. (Gizmos have 40 different part numbers). Some other information: a) Setup rates are about 10% each operation b) Inventory turns twice yearly c) Employee turnover is 25% per year d) Net profit is steady at 5% per year e) Maintenance is performed as needed. Nicholas Cheng, the manager, has been contemplating installing a new system to help control inventories and to "keep the skids filled". (it is his view that two days of work in front of a work station motivates the worker to produce at high speed) He is also planning to add three inspectors to clean up the quality problem. Further more, he is thinking about setting up a rework line to speed up the repairs. Although he is pleased with the highy utilization of most of the equipment and labour, he is concerned about the idle time of his milling machine. Finally, he has asked his industrial engineering department to look into high-rise shelving to store parts off of Machine 4. Questions a) Which of the changes being considered by Nicholas Cheng contradict the Lean Manufacturing philosophy? Why? Be prepared to explain in detail. b) Make recommendations for Lean Manufacturing improvements in such areas as scheduling, layout, Kanban, task groupings, and inventory. c) Create a future, value added operation for Cheng's current system. d) Outline a plan for the introduction of Lean manufacturing at Cheng